Review of No Country No Home
Posted: 19 Jan 2022, 17:24
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "No Country No Home" by Trudy Walter Carlson.]
No Country No Home is a memoir, a collection of the experiences of a German family who immigrated to the United States after World War II. The book was compiled by Trudy Walter Carlson. Although christened Waltraud, she chose the name Trudy in the third grade because it sounded like her nickname, Traudel, and Americans couldn’t pronounce her given name correctly.
The stories start with the author’s great-grandparents, who settled in Bessarabia (current-day Moldavian Republic) in the late 1800s. They then continue, documenting the various deportations and relocations throughout World War I and World War II and ending with her family’s immigration to the United States in 1951. Throughout the pages, relatives shared their experiences in Eastern Europe during the constant relocation from camp to camp. Communication was difficult, and they never knew if other kin were safe. Their Christian faith was a strong survival component: the miraculous events that led to many reunions were astounding.
There were narratives by Carlson, as well as her aunt, uncle, mother, and siblings. This meant the stories overlapped, but they were told from different perspectives, similar to the four Gospels of the Bible examining the same period from each apostle’s point of view. For instance, the trip from Germany to the United States was recounted by both Carlson’s mother Bertha and her older sister Lydia. After they had arrived in America and were on a train headed to Texas, Bertha recalled being alarmed when they passed a house and saw a woman open a window by pulling it up: she had only seen windows open outward on hinges in Germany. Lydia’s account reflected the extreme pressure she felt as a child during the difficult times her family faced. Although she was seven at the time and Trudy was nearly one, she noted she was not fully aware she had another baby sister until they arrived at their destination in Texas. It was an unexpected boon to relive the same event through the eyes of an adult and a child.
While I appreciated the wartime accounts, I most enjoyed the later chapters that described the Carlson family’s acclimation to life in the United States. Their fierce determination and sense of community shared with fellow Germans helped them succeed against the odds. When the children enrolled in school, no one in their family understood English, and they received no help with translation. They faced prejudice, blatant discrimination, and the struggle of having different language, customs, and values at home than those of classmates at school. A few circumstances resonated with some I faced attending the first year of racially integrated schools in the 1960s.
My ignorance about the German experience in Eastern Europe during this time attracted me to this read, but it was also a source of frustration at the beginning. Trying to understand the historical backdrop along with getting acquainted with the characters made advancing through the 127 pages slow going at first. It would have helped significantly to have a family tree diagram or listing at the beginning of the book. Taking detailed notes about each member as they were introduced was tedious, but it was worth the effort in the later chapters.
I rate No Country No Home 3 out of 4 stars. It contained no profanity or erotic scenes. The references to Christianity were in the context of the author’s life story and would not hinder the reading experience for those of other or no faith. There were over ten grammatical errors, but they were not distracting; the family tree was the primary component needed to help the reader become better acclimated in the beginning. Those two factors resulted in the deduction of one star from the rating. Lovers of historical novels and memoirs would appreciate this book. The stories shared a vivid picture of a German family’s history and new life in America after World War II.
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No Country No Home
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
No Country No Home is a memoir, a collection of the experiences of a German family who immigrated to the United States after World War II. The book was compiled by Trudy Walter Carlson. Although christened Waltraud, she chose the name Trudy in the third grade because it sounded like her nickname, Traudel, and Americans couldn’t pronounce her given name correctly.
The stories start with the author’s great-grandparents, who settled in Bessarabia (current-day Moldavian Republic) in the late 1800s. They then continue, documenting the various deportations and relocations throughout World War I and World War II and ending with her family’s immigration to the United States in 1951. Throughout the pages, relatives shared their experiences in Eastern Europe during the constant relocation from camp to camp. Communication was difficult, and they never knew if other kin were safe. Their Christian faith was a strong survival component: the miraculous events that led to many reunions were astounding.
There were narratives by Carlson, as well as her aunt, uncle, mother, and siblings. This meant the stories overlapped, but they were told from different perspectives, similar to the four Gospels of the Bible examining the same period from each apostle’s point of view. For instance, the trip from Germany to the United States was recounted by both Carlson’s mother Bertha and her older sister Lydia. After they had arrived in America and were on a train headed to Texas, Bertha recalled being alarmed when they passed a house and saw a woman open a window by pulling it up: she had only seen windows open outward on hinges in Germany. Lydia’s account reflected the extreme pressure she felt as a child during the difficult times her family faced. Although she was seven at the time and Trudy was nearly one, she noted she was not fully aware she had another baby sister until they arrived at their destination in Texas. It was an unexpected boon to relive the same event through the eyes of an adult and a child.
While I appreciated the wartime accounts, I most enjoyed the later chapters that described the Carlson family’s acclimation to life in the United States. Their fierce determination and sense of community shared with fellow Germans helped them succeed against the odds. When the children enrolled in school, no one in their family understood English, and they received no help with translation. They faced prejudice, blatant discrimination, and the struggle of having different language, customs, and values at home than those of classmates at school. A few circumstances resonated with some I faced attending the first year of racially integrated schools in the 1960s.
My ignorance about the German experience in Eastern Europe during this time attracted me to this read, but it was also a source of frustration at the beginning. Trying to understand the historical backdrop along with getting acquainted with the characters made advancing through the 127 pages slow going at first. It would have helped significantly to have a family tree diagram or listing at the beginning of the book. Taking detailed notes about each member as they were introduced was tedious, but it was worth the effort in the later chapters.
I rate No Country No Home 3 out of 4 stars. It contained no profanity or erotic scenes. The references to Christianity were in the context of the author’s life story and would not hinder the reading experience for those of other or no faith. There were over ten grammatical errors, but they were not distracting; the family tree was the primary component needed to help the reader become better acclimated in the beginning. Those two factors resulted in the deduction of one star from the rating. Lovers of historical novels and memoirs would appreciate this book. The stories shared a vivid picture of a German family’s history and new life in America after World War II.
******
No Country No Home
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
